Snow Scattered Through the Northwest

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, January 19, 2002

Locally heavy snow fell across higher elevations of the Northwest on Sunday, and a few light snow flurries drifted across the northern Plains and upper Great Lakes.

Up to a foot of snow was likely across mountain ranges of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and western Montana, with more than a foot possible in the Cascades.

Lighter snow fell at lower elevations in some eastern sections of Washington and Oregon, northern Nevada and southern Idaho, with 3 to 5 inches possible in places.

Along the coast, light to moderate rain fell from northern California across western sections of Oregon and Washington. Amounts by midday ranged from about a quarter of an inch to three-quarters of an inch.

A cold front sliding across the northern Plains and upper Great Lakes produced isolated light snow showers from eastern Montana through the Dakotas into Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Accumulations by afternoon were only about 1 to 2 inches, with a little additional snowfall likely during the night.

Farther east, a few lake effect snow showers developed downwind of Lake Ontario, streaming into parts of northern New York and Vermont. Only an inch of snow was expected.

Elsewhere, a weak disturbance over the southern Plains touched off scattered light showers from southern Texas into parts of Louisiana and Arkansas.

Sunday's temperatures around the Lower 48 states ranged from a morning low of 11 below zero at Orr, Minn., to a midday reading of 82 at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The lowest wind chill was 31 below at Leadville, Colo.